LettersHong Kong patients and doctors left high and dry by Hospital Authority and Medical Council

The Hospital Authority is powerless to alleviate, let alone solve, the nagging problem of a shortage of doctors in its employ. This shortfall is getting progressively worse. If the authority is doing something about it, its effectiveness is not apparent.

Increasing the output of the two local medical schools and recruiting overseas-trained medical graduates may increase the total number of doctors working in Hong Kong, but not necessarily in the Hospital Authority. The preponderance of doctors in private practice will continue because the authority has done almost nothing to retain them.

I dare say it has done very little to improve the poor working conditions of its doctors. Most work much longer than their contracted hours every day under very trying conditions, in overcrowded wards and outpatients’ departments. The workload is ever-increasing and the building of new hospitals does not alleviate the situation, as there are not enough personnel to staff them. So doctors leave in frustration and this aggravates the predicament. There appears to be no end to this vicious cycle.

The authority does not fare too well with recruiting overseas medical graduates either, because of the draconian and harsh restrictions created by the Medical Council which registers doctors. It has a mandate not to put the interests of doctors above those of the public. The recent decision concerning the length of internships to be done by foreign-trained graduates after passing the licensing examination has demonstrated just the opposite.